Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus includes a motion-blur adding mechanism performing filter processing on moving image data to be subjected to coding processing in accordance with motion information indicating motion of an image between unit images included in the moving image data as pre-processing of the coding processing so that motion-blur addition processing is performed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus andmethod, and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a moving image has a huge amount of data, and thus movingimage data has been commonly compressed before the moving image isstored, transmitted, etc.

A typical method for compressing moving image data is moving-imagecoding which combines inter-frame coding, such as MPEG (Moving PictureExperts Group), etc., and intra-frame coding.

In order to improve the coding efficiency of the moving-image coding bythe MPEG system, many proposals have been made on the method ofperforming pre-processing on a moving image.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2001-352546, the occurrence of block distortion after coding issuppressed by applying a low-pass filter on an image as pre-processing.

However, in the method described in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2001-352546, the suppression of theoccurrence of block distortion at the time of coding is intended, and itis unavoidable to have losses in detail by the application of thelow-pass filter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, motion-blur addition is performed by imageprocessing in which a low-pass filter simulating a motion blur caused byan exposure time period at shooting time is adaptively applied to animage using motion information in a moving image. Thereby, it isdesirable to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processingmethod, and a program which enable a viewer of a moving image to have anatural image quality and which allows the improvement of the codingefficiency.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is providedan image processing apparatus including a motion-blur adding means forperforming filter processing on moving image data to be subjected tocoding processing as pre-processing of the coding processing inaccordance with motion information indicating motion of an image betweenunit images included in the moving image data so that motion-bluraddition processing is performed.

Also, the image processing apparatus may further include a motion-vectorgeneration means for generating a motion vector as the motioninformation from the moving image data, wherein the motion-blur addingmeans may perform the filter processing on the moving image data usingthe motion vector generated by the motion-vector generation means sothat the motion-blur addition processing is performed.

The motion-blur adding means may perform the filter processing addingmotion-blur to the moving image data using motion information to be usedfor coding the moving image data in coding processing in a subsequentstage.

Also, the motion-blur adding means may obtain an optimum shutter speedcorresponding to the subject speed for each area in the image data byreferring to relating information relating a subject speed and ashooting shutter speed reducing deterioration of an output image, andmay adjust an amount of the motion blur on the basis of a relationshipbetween the shooting shutter speed and the optimum shutter speed.

Also, in addition to these configurations, the image processingapparatus may further include a coding means for coding the moving imagedata having been subjected to the motion-blur addition processing by themotion-blur adding means.

Also, a motion-blur addition parameter used at the time of themotion-blur adding means performing the motion-blur addition processingand the moving image data may be externally output.

The motion-blur addition parameter may be any one of flag informationindicating whether a motion blur is added or not for each area of eachunit image of the moving image data, the motion vector information usedfor the motion-blur addition processing, and compensation information ofthe motion vector.

Also, according to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an image processing apparatus including a motion-blur reducingmeans, receiving decoded moving image data having been coded aftersubjected to motion-blur addition processing, for performing filterprocessing on the decoded moving image data in accordance with motioninformation indicating motion of an image between unit images includedin the moving image data so that motion-blur reduction processing isperformed.

Also, the image processing apparatus may further include a motion-vectorgeneration means for generating a motion vector as the motioninformation from the decoded moving image data, wherein the motion-blurreducing means may perform the filter processing on the moving imagedata using the motion vector generated by the motion-vector generationmeans so that the motion-blur reduction processing is performed.

Also, the motion-blur reducing means may perform the filter processingreducing the motion-blur using motion information used for decoding themoving image data in decoding processing in a preceding stage.

Also, in addition to these configurations, the image processingapparatus may further include a decoding means for decoding the movingimage data having been subjected to coding after the motion-bluraddition. The motion-blur reducing means performs the motion-blurreduction processing on the decoded moving image data input from thedecoding means.

Also, the motion-blur reducing means may select whether or not toperform the motion-blur reduction processing or may adjust the degree ofthe motion-blur reduction processing on the basis of a motion-bluraddition parameter used at the time of performing the motion-bluraddition processing. The motion-blur addition parameter may be any oneof flag information indicating whether a motion blur is added or not foreach area of each unit image of the moving image data, the motion vectorinformation used for the motion-blur addition processing, andcompensation information of the motion vector.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a first method of processing an image, including the steps of:performing filter processing on moving image data to be subjected tocoding processing in accordance with motion information indicatingmotion of an image between unit images included in the moving image dataso that motion-blur addition processing is performed; and coding themoving image data having been subjected to the motion-blur additionprocessing.

Also, according to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a second method of processing an image, including the steps of:decoding moving image data having been subjected to motion-blur additionprocessing and coding, and performing filter processing on the decodedmoving image data in accordance with motion information indicatingmotion of an image between unit images included in the moving image dataso that motion-blur reduction processing is performed.

The first and the second programs according to the present invention areprograms for causing an information processing apparatus to performindividual steps of the first and the second methods, respectively.

That is to say, in the present invention, motion-blur addition isperformed by image processing in which a low-pass filter simulating amotion blur caused by an exposure time period at shooting time isapplied to an image using motion information in the moving imageadaptively. Thereby, it is possible for a viewer of a moving image tohave a natural image quality and to improve the coding efficiency.

In the first image processing apparatus, the first image processing, andthe first program, according to the present invention, it becomespossible for a viewer of a moving image to have a more natural imagequality and to improve the coding efficiency by applying a low-passfilter simulating a motion blur compared with the case of applying aspatially uniform low-pass filter.

Also, the filtering is performed adaptively for each area by referringto motion information, and thus in particular in an area in which asubject is moving at a high speed, it is expected that the image qualityis easily maintained and the coding efficiency is improved even if anintensive low-pass filter is applied in a wide area compared with thecase of applying a spatially uniform low-pass filter.

Also, in the second image processing apparatus, the second imageprocessing, and the second program, the filtering is performedadaptively for each area by referring to motion information, and thus itis possible to reduce a motion blur for each area in accordance with thesize of the motion including the adjustment of the amount of motion bluras the subsequent processing if necessary compared with the case ofapplying a spatially uniform low-pass filter at coding time (that is tosay, a spatially uniform high-pass filter at decoding time).Accordingly, it is possible to display a natural image quality for theviewer of the moving image.

Also, in the case where the parameters of the motion-blur additionprocessing in the pre-processing of the coding are transmitted (or it isdifficult to do so), it is possible to perform the motion-blur reductionprocessing using only the motion information. That is to say, it ispossible to perform the processing by the motion vector transmitted foruse in coding and decoding or only by the motion information obtainedafter decoding. This is an advantage over the case of applying aspatially uniform low-pass filter at coding time (that is to say, aspatially uniform high-pass filter at decoding time), because it isnecessary to transmit some kind of filter information at the time oflow-pass filtering in that case.

Also, if a moving image, an animation, etc., captured at a high-speedshutter are displayed using display device, such as a projector, adisplay unit, etc., the movement of a moving object included in theimage is displayed discontinuously, and thus the viewer of the imageperceives ghost. This is image deterioration called “motion jerkiness”(reference: ANSI T1.801.02.02-1996), and this occurs frequently.

On the other hand, if a moving image captured at a low-speed shutter,such as open shutter, etc., is displayed, the loss of details or anunclear edge of a subject often occurs by the influence of a motionblur. Such a phenomenon is image deterioration called a “blur (motionblur)”.

In the first image processing apparatus, the first image processing, andthe first program according to the present invention, a motion blur isadded in order to improve the compression rate of the coding. Thereby,the coding efficiency is improved, and at the same time, it becomespossible to reduce the above-described jerkiness.

Also, in the second image processing apparatus, the second imageprocessing, and the second program, according to the present invention,the image quality is improved by performing motion-blur reductionprocessing on the decoded image data to which a motion blur is added.

Also, by combining the first image processing apparatus, the first imageprocessing, and the first program with the second image processingapparatus, the second image processing, and the second program, itbecomes possible to reduce both the jerkiness and the blur, and toobtain the image data, which has not been subjected to the motion-bluraddition processing, after decoding.

By the present invention, it is possible to improve coding efficiency.For example, the present invention is preferably applied to a system inwhich one of apparatuses, corresponding to the first image processingapparatus, performs coding image data and transmitting the image data,and the other of the apparatuses, corresponding to the second imageprocessing apparatus, receives the image data and decodes the imagedata.

Also, it becomes possible to achieve the display of images havingnatural image quality and suppressing jerkiness and blur, which arise inmoving image data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first image processing apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of coding efficiency improvement bymotion-blur addition in the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of another configuration of thefirst image processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of still another configurationof the first image processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the motion-vector generation processingsection according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the motion-vector generation processing sectionaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the motion-blur addition processing sectionaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the processing of the motion-vector maskprocessing section according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the processing of the optimum-shutter-speedcalculation/determination section and the motion-vector compensationsection;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram on an optimum shutter speed accordingto the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the processing of thefilter-parameter calculation section according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is another block diagram of the motion-blur addition processingsection according to the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a second image processing apparatusaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example of another configuration of thesecond image processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example of still another configurationof the second image processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the motion-blur reduction processingsection according to the embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the moving average filter;

FIG. 18 is another block diagram of the motion-blur reduction processingsection according to the embodiment; and

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of transmission of a filter parameteraccording to the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, a description will be given of an embodiment of thepresent invention in the following order. In this regard, the firstimage processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus whichperforms motion-blur addition processing in the preceding stage of thecoding, and the second image processing apparatus is an image processingapparatus which performs decoding and motion-blur reduction processingon the moving image data transmitted from the first image processingapparatus.

1. The first image processing apparatus

-   -   1.1 Example of the configuration of the image processing        apparatus    -   1.2 Motion-vector generation processing section    -   1.3 Motion-blur addition processing section

2. The second image processing apparatus

-   -   2.1 Example of the configuration of the image processing        apparatus    -   2.2 Motion-blur reduction processing section

3. Information transmission between the first and the second apparatuses

4. Program

1. The First Image Processing Apparatus

1.1 Example of the Configuration of the Image Processing Apparatus

A description will be given of an example of the configuration of thefirst image processing apparatus, that is to say, an image processingapparatus performing motion-blur addition processing at the precedingstage of coding with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4.

In this regard, a processing block in each figure indicates a logicalconstituent element, and the individual processing blocks may becontained in a same casing, or may also be contained in differentcasings. In each figure, an image processing apparatus 1 surrounded by abroken line or an image processing apparatus 100 surrounded by a brokenline can be thought as the configuration of the first image processingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration in which the image processingapparatus 1 includes a motion-blur addition processing section 11.Alternatively, FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration in which the imageprocessing apparatus 100 includes the motion-blur addition processingsection 11 and a coding processing section 2.

The motion-blur addition processing section 11 adds a motion blur toinput moving image data ID, and outputs the data to the subsequentstage, the coding processing section 2.

The moving image data ID and motion information MI of each area (an areais a pixel unit or a pixel block unit including a plurality of pixels)of each frame of the moving image data ID are input into the motion-bluraddition processing section 11. The motion-blur addition processingsection 11 adaptively performs filter processing on the moving imagedata ID to add a motion blur.

Motion-blurred image data BD having been subjected to the motion-bluraddition processing is input into the coding processing section 2, andis subjected to coding processing.

The coding processing section 2 performs compression processing, such ascoding, etc., conforming to the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)standards, etc., for example.

The coded data ED, which is produced by the compression-processing onthe motion-blurred image data BD, has improved compression efficiencycompared with the coded data produced by directly inputting the movingimage data ID into the coding processing section 2.

A description will be given of the reason that the compressionefficiency is improved by adding a motion blur to moving image data withreference to FIG. 2.

Here, a description will be specifically given of the fact that thecompression efficiency is improved by applying a low-pass filter. Thesimulative addition of a motion blur arising by an exposure period atshooting time is said to be a kind of applying a low-pass filter.

In general, image data can be compressed, because the data has a highcorrelation between neighboring pixels. In order to increase acompression rate, a correlation between neighboring pixels ought to beincreased.

Here, the image is regarded as a one-dimensional signal, and covarianceis introduced.

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{C_{fg} = {\lim\limits_{x\rightarrow\infty}{\frac{1}{2X}{\sum\limits_{x = {- X}}^{X}{\left( {{f(x)} - \mu_{f}} \right)\left( {{g(x)} - \mu_{g}} \right)}}}}} \\{\equiv {E_{x}\left\lbrack {\left( {{f(x)} - \mu_{f}} \right)\left( {{g(x)} - \mu_{g}} \right)} \right\rbrack}}\end{matrix} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

where the covariance is C_(fg), the image signals are f(x) and g(x),μ_(f) and μ_(g) are spatial average values, which are given byμ_(f)=Ex[f(x)] and μ_(g)=Ex[g(x)], respectively.

Expression 1 produces a value nearer to the variance of f(x) or g(x), asf(x) and g(x) get closer to each other, and produces 0 as f(x) and g(x)become apart. The covariance C_(fg) quantifies the proximity of twowaveforms.

In the case of compressing an image, the image signal is expressed onlyby f(x), and it is necessary to quantify the proximity of neighboringpixels.

Accordingly, it is assumed that g(x) is the signal produced by f(x) witha displacement of u (integer). Thus, g(x)=f(x+u) is assigned toExpression 1.

At this time, Ex[f(x)] and Ex[g(x)]=Ex[f(x+u)] become equal. Assumingthat this value is μ, Expression 2 is obtained.C _(ff)(u)=E _(x)[(f(x)−μ)(f(x+u)−μ)]  [Expression 2]

where C_(ff)(u) is called an autocovariance.

Now, the autocovariance of an actual image signal f(x) is plotted on thebasis of Expression 2.

In this regard, concerning C_(ff)(u), attention should not be focused onwhether the value is high or low, but should be focused on how fast thevalue is attenuated as moving away from the origin u=0.

First, FIG. 2A shows the case where a signal with no change at all isapplied. In this case, it is easily understood that C_(ff)(u) becomes 0from the definition of Expression 2.

Next, FIG. 2B shows the autocovariance in the case where an image signalf(x) with sharp fluctuations is applied. If the signal fluctuatessharply, the autocovariance soon converges at 0 from u=0, becausepositive values and negative values cancel with each other with a changein the displacement of u.

Next, FIG. 2C shows the autocovariance in the case where an image signalf(x) with a gradual change is applied.

The signal changes gradually, and thus the autocovariance is attenuatedgradually from u=0, because there is a correlation between pixels with achange in the displacement of u.

That is to say, the autocovariance becomes close to a discrete deltafunction which accelerates convergence at 0 from u=0 in the case of alow correlation between pixels.

When a low-pass filter is applied, it is apparent that a change betweenpixels becomes gradual. When a change between pixels becomes gradual, acorrelation between the pixels becomes high.

When the correlation between the pixels becomes high, as shown in theexamples in FIGS. 2B and 2C, a pixel signal is changed from the pixelsignal with the autocovariance having a small correlation between thepixels in FIG. 2B to the pixel signal having a large correlation betweenthe pixels shown in FIG. 2C, and thus the compression rate is said to beincreased.

The above is a description of an increase in the compression efficiencyby the application of a low-pass filter to moving image data. The samething can be applied to the motion-blur addition processing.

Next, FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration in which the image processingapparatus 1 includes a motion-blur addition processing section 11 and amotion-vector generation processing section 12. Alternatively, FIG. 1illustrates a configuration in which the image processing apparatus 100includes the motion-blur addition processing section 11, themotion-vector generation processing section 12, and a coding processingsection 2.

FIG. 3 is an example of the configuration using a motion vector VD as anexample of the motion information MI in FIG. 1.

The motion-vector generation processing section 12 generates the motionvector VD of each area (an area is a pixel unit or a pixel block unitincluding a plurality of pixels) of each frame of the input moving imagedata ID.

The motion-blur addition processing section 11 adaptively performsfilter processing on the input moving image data ID (for each frame orfor each divided area) using the motion vector VD so that themotion-blur addition processing is performed.

Motion-blurred image data BD having been subjected to the motion-bluraddition processing is input into the coding processing section 2, andis subjected to coding processing, such as the MPEG compression, etc.,for example.

In this case, the coded data ED, produced by compression-processing themotion-blurred image data BD, has also improved compression efficiencycompared with the coded data produced by directly inputting the movingimage data ID into the coding processing section 2.

Next, FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the configuration in which themotion vector used in the coding processing section 2 is used in themotion-blur addition processing.

In FIG. 4, as a configuration in the coding processing section 2, abasic MPEG coding processing block is shown.

The moving image data ID input into the motion-blur addition processingsection 11 is also input into a motion-vector generation processingsection 210 in the coding processing section 2.

The motion-vector generation processing section 210 detects a motionbetween two adjacent pictures, generates a motion vector, and outputsthe motion vector to a motion compensation section 209 and an entropycoding section 204. A subtraction section 201 subtracts the image datahaving been subjected to the motion compensation by the motioncompensation section 209 from the moving image data input from themotion-blur addition processing section 11, and outputs the result to aDCT processing section 202.

The DCT processing section 202 performs DCT processing on the movingimage data input from the subtraction section 201, generates a DCTcoefficient, and outputs the DCT coefficient to a quantization section203.

The quantization section 203 quantizes the DCT coefficient input fromthe DCT section 202 to generate the quantization data, and outputs thequantization data to the entropy coding section 204 and an inversequantization section 205. The inverse quantization section 205 inverselyquantizes the quantization data input from the quantization section 203to generate a DCT coefficient, and outputs the DCT coefficient to aninverse DCT section 206.

The inverse DCT section 206 performs inverse DCT processing on the DCTcoefficient input from the inverse quantization section 205 to generateimage data, and outputs the image data to an addition section 207.

The addition section 207 adds the image data motion-compensated by themotion compensation section 209 and the image data input from theinverse DCT section 206 to output the result to the frame memory 208.The image data temporarily stored in the frame memory 208 is output tothe motion compensation section 209, and is supplied to themotion-vector generation processing section 210 as the image data of thepast frame to be used for motion vector generation.

The motion compensation section 209 performs motion compensation on theimage data input from the addition section 207 through the frame memory208 on the basis of the motion vector input from the motion-vectorgeneration processing section 210, and outputs the result to theaddition section 207 and the subtraction section 201.

The entropy-coding section 204 performs variable-length codingprocessing on the quantization data input from the quantization section203 to generate compressed image data (coded data ED), and outputs thecoded data.

In the configuration in FIG. 4, the motion vector generated by themotion-vector generation processing section 210, that is to say, themotion vector to be used for the MPEG compression processing, issupplied to the motion-blur addition processing section 11. Themotion-blur addition processing section 11 performs motion-blur additionprocessing using the supplied motion vector.

As in this example, in the prediction coding on the basis of imagemotion information, like the MPEG system, it is thought that the motionvector generated in the coding processing is used.

In this regard, although the figure is omitted, for example, as shown inFIG. 3, the motion vector VD generated by the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11 for the motion-blur addition processing may besupplied to the coding processing section 2, and the coding processingsection 2 may perform the prediction coding processing using the motionvector VD.

In the first image processing apparatus 1 (or 100), motion-blur additionis performed by image processing in which a low-pass filter simulating amotion blur caused by an exposure time period at shooting time isadaptively applied to an image using motion information in the movingimage. Thereby, it is possible for a viewer of a moving image to have anatural image quality and to improve the coding efficiency.

It becomes possible for a viewer of a moving image to have a morenatural image quality and to improve the coding efficiency by applying alow-pass filter simulating a motion blur compared with the case ofapplying a spatially uniform low-pass filter.

Also, the filtering is performed adaptively for each area by referringto motion information, and thus, in particular, in an area in which asubject is moving at a high speed, it is expected that the image qualityis easily maintained and the coding efficiency is improved even if anintensive low-pass filter is applied in a wide area compared with thecase of applying a spatially uniform low-pass filter.

Moreover, the first image processing apparatus 1 (or 100) allows thereduction of jerkiness.

1.2 Motion-Vector Generation Processing Section

As described above, various configurations are considered for the firstimage processing apparatus 1 (or 100). In the following, on the basis ofthe example of the configuration shown in FIG. 3, a description will begiven of an example of the detailed configuration of the motion-vectorgeneration processing section 12 and the motion-blur addition processingsection 11.

Here, first, a description will be given of the configuration and theoperation of the motion-vector generation processing section 12 usingFIGS. 5 and 6.

The motion-vector generation processing section 12 generates a motionvector for each area of a pixel or a pixel block with high precision.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the motion-vector generationprocessing section 12 has a motion-vector detection section 121, apixel-block identification processing section 122, a motion-vectorestimation processing section 123, a motion-vector smoothing processingsection 124, and delay sections 121 a and 122 a.

The motion-vector detection section 121 detects a motion vector from aprocessing target frame and the immediately preceding frame.

The pixel-block identification processing section 122 compares themotion vector of the processing target frame and the motion vector ofthe immediately preceding frame, and identifies pixel blocks having ahigh correlation.

The motion-vector estimation processing section 123 estimates a motionvector of the other pixel blocks from the motion vector of the pixelblocks identified by the pixel-block identification processing section122.

The motion-vector smoothing processing section 124 performs smoothingprocessing on the motion vector.

The moving image data ID input as shown in FIG. 3 is supplied to themotion-vector detection section 121 and the delay section 121 a whichdelays the moving image data ID by one frame.

The motion-vector detection section 121 determines the supplied movingimage data ID to be a processing target frame. And the motion vector ofthe processing target frame is detected for each pixel block, forexample, from the processing target frame and the immediately precedingframe having a one-frame delay by the delay section 121 a.

In this regard, if the processing of the motion-vector detection section121 is implemented by software, a motion vector ought to be detected foreach pixel block using a general block matching method.

The motion vector detected by the motion-vector detection section 121 issupplied to the pixel-block identification processing section 122 andthe delay section 122 a. The delay section 122 a delays the moving imagedata ID by one frame.

The pixel-block identification processing section 122 compares themotion vector of the processing target frame supplied from themotion-vector detection section 121 and the motion vector of theimmediately preceding frame delayed by the delay section 122 a for eachpixel block as shown below, and identifies the pixel block having a highcorrelation from the comparison result.

Specifically, the pixel-block identification processing section 122calculates the vector correlation coefficient σ of the pixel block bythe following expression (Expression 3) assuming that a motion vector ofone pixel block of the processing target frame is (x, y), the motionvector of the immediately preceding frame corresponding to this is (x′,y′), and a correlation determination coefficient determined optionallyis α.

$\begin{matrix}{\sigma = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{1\text{:}\mspace{14mu}\left\{ \begin{matrix}{{\alpha \times x} < x^{\prime} < {\left( {2 - \alpha} \right) \times x}} \\\& \\{{\alpha \times y} < y^{\prime} < {\left( {2 - \alpha} \right) \times y}} \\\because \\{{({case})x} = 0} \\{{{- \left( {1 - \alpha} \right)} \times y} < x^{\prime} < {\left( {1 - \alpha} \right) \times y}} \\{{({case})y} = 0} \\{{{- \left( {1 - \alpha} \right)} \times x} < y^{\prime} < {\left( {1 - \alpha} \right) \times x}}\end{matrix} \right.} \\{0\text{:}\mspace{20mu}{Others}}\end{matrix} \right.} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 3} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

In this regard, the correlation determination coefficient α has thedomain thereof as 0<α<1. The vector correlation coefficient σ iscalculated to be close to 1 as the value of α becomes high.

The pixel-block identification processing section 122 calculates thevector correlation coefficient σ of each pixel block from theabove-described expression (Expression 3), and identifies a certainpixel block having a vector correlation coefficient σ of 1 as a pixelblock having a motion vector with a high correlation.

The motion-vector estimation processing section 123 estimates the motionvector of the pixel block whose vector correlation coefficient σ is 0from the motion vector of the pixel block whose vector correlationcoefficient σ is identified as 1 by the pixel-block identificationprocessing section 122.

That is to say, the motion-vector estimation processing section 123regards the pixel block whose vector correlation coefficient σ isdetermined to be 1 by the pixel-block identification processing section122 as having a valid motion vector. The motion-vector estimationprocessing section 123 updates the motion vector of the other pixelblocks, that is to say, the pixel block whose vector correlationcoefficient σ is 0 and having an invalid motion vector.

A detailed description will be specifically given of the processing ofthe motion-vector estimation processing section 123 with reference toFIG. 6.

In step S1, the motion-vector estimation processing section 123determines whether the vector correlation coefficient σ of the currentprocessing target pixel block (hereinafter, referred to as a pixel blockof interest) in the processing target frame is 1 or 0. That is to say,the motion-vector estimation processing section 123 determines whetherthe motion vector of the pixel block is valid or not. Next, in themotion-vector estimation processing section 123, if the motion vector ofthe pixel block is valid, the value of the motion vector is not updated,and the processing is terminated, whereas if the motion vector of thepixel block is not valid, the processing proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, concerning a pixel block of interest, the motion-vectorestimation processing section 123 determines whether there is asurrounding pixel block having a valid vector around the pixel block ofinterest. Specifically, the motion-vector estimation processing section123 determines whether there is a valid motion vector in eight pixelblocks adjacent to the pixel block of interest as surrounding pixelblocks. If there is a valid motion vector, the processing proceeds tostep S3. If there is not a valid motion vector, the motion vector of thepixel block of interest is not updated, and the processing isterminated.

Here, the reasons why estimation processing is not performed on a pixelblock of interest having no valid motion vector using the surroundingpixel blocks located in more extensive areas are as follows.

The first reason is that although it is possible to perform estimationprocessing using the pixel blocks located in more extensive areas, thememory area for temporarily storing image data processed as thesurrounding pixel blocks increases in order to complete the processingin a fixed period of time.

The second reason is that in the subsequent stage of the processing, itis possible to adequately compensate invalid motion vector by performingsmoothing processing on the motion vector of the pixel block of interestusing surrounding the pixel blocks in a wider area than theabove-described eight adjacent pixel blocks in total.

In step S3, the motion-vector estimation processing section 123estimates and updates the motion vector of the pixel block of interestonly from the motion vector of the surrounding pixel blocks having avalid motion vector, and terminates the processing. The motion-vectorestimation processing section 123 outputs the motion vector of the pixelblock of interest to perform smoothing by a median filter inputting onlythe motion vectors of the surrounding pixel blocks having valid motionvectors as an example of the estimation processing.

The motion-vector estimation processing section 123 estimates the motionvector of the processing target frame for each pixel block as describedabove. Next, the motion-vector estimation processing section 123supplies the motion vector including a motion vector identified by thepixel-block identification processing section 122 to the motion-vectorsmoothing processing section 124.

The motion-vector smoothing processing section 124 performs smoothingprocessing on the motion vector of each pixel block included in theprocessing target image. Specifically, the motion-vector smoothingprocessing section 124 inputs the motion vector of the pixel block ofinterest before the smoothing processing and the motion vector of thesurrounding pixel blocks in a wider area than the above-describedadjacent pixel blocks as input I (x+i, y+i) into a Gaussian function asshown below (Expression 4) to output the motion vector J (x, y) of thepixel block of interest after the smoothing processing.

$\begin{matrix}{{J\left( {x,y} \right)} = \left( \frac{\begin{matrix}{\sum{{I\left( {{x + i},{y + j}} \right)}*}} \\{\mathbb{e}}^{{- \frac{r^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} - \frac{{({{I{({{x + i},{y + j}})}} - {I{({x,y})}}})}^{2}}{t^{2}}}\end{matrix}}{\sum{\mathbb{e}}^{{- \frac{r^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} - \frac{{({{I{({{x + i},{y + j}})}} - {I{({x,y})}}})}^{2}}{t^{2}}}} \right)} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 4} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

where r denotes the distance between the pixel block of interest andeach surrounding pixel block in a two-dimensional space, σ² denotes thevariance of the distance r, t² denotes the variance of the motionvector. That is to say, σ² and t² are parameters optionally set asvalues expressing the degree of the smoothing.

The motion-vector smoothing processing section 124 performs theabove-described smoothing processing on each pixel block included in theprocessing target frame, and supplies the motion vector VD to themotion-blur addition processing section 11.

In this manner, the motion-vector smoothing processing section 124identifies the pixel block having a valid motion vector from individualpixel blocks included in the processing target frame, and estimates theother motion vectors from the valid motion vector. Thus, it is possibleto generate a motion vector in accordance with the actual movement of amoving object with high precision.

In this regard, in the motion-vector generation processing section 12,the motion vector detected by the motion-vector detection section 121may be directly supplied to the motion-vector smoothing processingsection 124 to be subjected to the smoothing processing without goingthrough the pixel-block identification processing section 122 and themotion-vector estimation processing section 123. In such a case, it isalso possible to generate a motion vector in accordance with the actualmovement of a moving object with high precision compared with the motionvector as the above-described coding information.

1.3 Motion-Blur Addition Processing Section

Next, a description will be given of an example of the configuration ofthe motion-blur addition processing section 11.

In this regard, two examples, an example of the configuration in FIG. 7and an example of the configuration in FIG. 12 will be described as themotion-blur addition processing section 11.

First, a description will be given of the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11 as an example of FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7, the motion-blur addition processing section 11includes a motion-vector mask processing section 113 which generatesmotion-vector mask information identifying an image area to which amotion blur is added.

Also, the motion-blur addition processing section 11 includes anoptimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114 whichcalculates a shutter speed (hereinafter referred to as an optimumshutter speed information) suitable for the motion vector, and comparesthe optimum shutter speed information and the shutter speed informationat the time of the actual shooting of the image to perform thedetermination processing described below.

Also, the motion-blur addition processing section 11 includes amotion-vector compensation section 115 which compensates the motionvector on the basis of the determination result of theoptimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114.

Also, the motion-blur addition processing section 11 includes afilter-parameter calculation section 111 which calculates a filterparameter for adding a motion vector in accordance with each pixel ofthe processing target frame.

Also, the motion-blur addition processing section 11 includes amotion-blur addition filter 112 which performs motion-blur filterprocessing on the pixel value of each pixel of the processing targetframe.

Here, although it is possible to perform all the processing for eachpixel, in order to reduce the calculation processing load, themotion-blur addition processing section 11 performs the processing ofthe motion-vector mask processing section 113, the optimum-shutter-speedcalculation/determination section 114, and the motion-vectorcompensation section 115 for each pixel block.

Also, the filter-parameter calculation section 111 and the motion-bluraddition filter 112 perform the filter processing for adding a motionblur to the moving image data ID, and thus performs the processing notfor each pixel block, but for each pixel.

The motion-vector mask processing section 113 identifies the image areato which a motion blur is added out of the processing target frame, andthus performs the mask processing as shown in FIG. 8 on the motionvector VD supplied from the motion-vector generation processing section12 for each pixel block. And the motion-vector mask processing section113 supplies the motion vector having undergone the mask processing foreach pixel block to the optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determinationsection 114 and the motion-vector compensation section 115.

The image area, which is necessary to be provided with a motion blur andis liable to suffer from jerkiness, is concentrated on moving-objectimage areas and edge-surrounding image areas in a screen in particular.

Thus, by the processing shown in FIG. 8, the motion-vector maskprocessing section 113 outputs only the motion vector of the pixel blocksurrounding an edge, having a high space contrast, and which is liableto suffer from jerkiness.

That is to say, in step S11, the motion-vector mask processing section113 detects an edge of an image from the input moving image data ID foreach pixel block as processing for identifying an area having a highspace contrast in the processing target frame.

Also, in parallel with the processing of step S11, in step S12, themotion-vector mask processing section 113 performs processing foridentifying a moving object area in the processing target frame. That isto say, the motion-vector mask processing section 113 calculates thedifference between frames for each pixel block so as to detect amoving-object image area.

In step S13, the motion-vector mask processing section 113 determineswhether the area has been detected as an area liable to suffer fromjerkiness for each pixel block by the processing either theabove-described step S11 or step S12, or both of the steps. Themotion-vector mask processing section 113 sets the mask processing flagto ‘1’ for the pixel block determined to be an area liable to sufferfrom jerkiness. Also, the motion-vector mask processing section sets themask processing flag to “0” for the pixel block determined not to be anarea liable to suffer from jerkiness.

In step S14, the motion-vector mask processing section determineswhether the motion vector VD supplied from the motion-vector generationprocessing section 12 is the motion vector VD of the pixel block havingthe above-described flag set as “1”.

The motion-vector mask processing section 113 outputs the motion vectorof the pixel block having the flag set as “1” to theoptimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114, and themotion-vector compensation section 115 in the subsequent-stage withoutchanging the value.

Also, the motion-vector mask processing section 113 performs maskprocessing, which changes the value of the motion vector to 0 orinvalidates the motion vector, on the motion vector of the pixel blockhaving the flag set as “0” in step S15, and outputs the motion vector tothe optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114, and themotion-vector compensation section 115 in the subsequent-stage.

Next, a description will be given of the processing according to theoptimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114 and themotion-vector compensation section 115 with reference to FIG. 9.

In step S31, the optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section114 calculates an optimum shutter speed in accordance with the motionvector of each pixel block of the processing target frame on the basisof an evaluation index as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

Here, FIG. 10 is a graph showing a subject speed indicating the movementspeed of a moving body detected as a motion vector and an optimumshutter speed curve in accordance with the subject speed. Here, anoptimum shutter speed is a shutter speed at which jerkiness is difficultto be perceived in a visual characteristic in accordance with themovement speed of a subject, and at which a blur, in which details ofthe subject is lost or blurred by a motion blur being too much added, isdifficult to be perceived. That is to say, if the subject is shot at ashutter speed higher than the optimum shutter speed, a determination canbe made that jerkiness occurs. On the other hand, if the subject is shotat a shutter speed lower than the optimum shutter speed, a determinationcan be made that a blur occurs in the captured image.

Thus, the optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section 114calculates an optimum speed in accordance with the motion vector of eachpixel by relating the motion vector of each pixel block to the subjectspeed in FIG. 10.

In this regard, the optimum shutter speed curve SS0 shown by a solidline in FIG. 10 is an example showing a relationship between any subjectspeed and an optimum shutter speed, and specifically is a curveconnecting experiment result values obtained on the basis ofpsychological experiments.

Here, a motion blur area A1 shown in FIG. 10 is an area determined toinclude a motion blur due to the movement of a subject too much on thebasis of the optimum shutter speed curve SS0. In the same manner, ajerkiness area A2 is an area determined not to include a motion blur dueto the movement of a subject, and to include jerkiness in the visualcharacteristic on the basis of the optimum shutter speed curve SS0.

In order to obtain an optimum shutter speed in accordance with themotion vector directly using the optimum shutter speed curve SS0 shownby the solid line, a table containing optimum shutter speeds inaccordance with motion vectors at any intervals ought to be stored in arecording medium in advance, and the recording medium ought to bereferenced.

Also, in the present embodiment, an optimum shutter speed in accordancewith a motion vector may be calculated using a function approximatingthe optimum shutter speed curve shown by the solid line.

In this case, the optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determinationsection 114 calculates an optimum shutter speed SSD′ by theapproximation function of the optimum shutter speed curve shown by thefollowing expression (Expression 5) assuming that the motion vector of acertain pixel block is v.

$\begin{matrix}{{S\; S\; D^{\prime}} = {{\left( \frac{v - A}{B - A} \right)^{\gamma} \times \left( {v - A} \right)} + A}} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 5} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

In this regard, individual parameters A, B, and γ in Expression 5 oughtto be suitably set in accordance with the curve form of the optimumshutter speed shown in FIG. 10. As a specific example of a shutter speedcurve, FIG. 10 shows curve forms SS1 to SS3 when the values A and B arefixed, and γ is changed in three levels among the individual parametersin Expression 5.

After the optimum shutter speed SSD′ in accordance with the motionvector is calculated, in step S32 in FIG. 9, the optimum-shutter-speedcalculation/determination section 114 compares the optimum shutter speedSSD′ and the shutter speed SSD at actually shot time, and adetermination is made whether the shutter speed falls in the jerkinessarea A2 shown in FIG. 10 for each pixel block.

In this regard, the shutter speed SSD at actually shot time ought to bea value added to the moving image data ID as meta data, for example.Also, in the case where the image processing apparatus 1 (100) of theembodiment is included in an imaging apparatus, the shutter speed can beobtained as shutter speed information at shooting time by thatapparatus.

From the determination result of step S32, in the pixel block of thecurrent processing target, if the shutter speed SSD is higher than theoptimum shutter speed SSD′, and falls in the jerkiness area A2, in themotion-vector compensation section 115, the processing proceeds to stepS33.

Also, in the pixel block of the current processing target, if theshutter speed SSD is lower than the optimum shutter speed SSD′, and doesnot fall in the jerkiness area A2, in the motion-vector compensationsection 115, the processing proceeds to step S34.

In step S33, jerkiness occurs in the pixel block of the processingtarget, the motion-vector compensation section 115 performs processingfor multiplying the value of the motion vector and a function fs (SSD)which increases the value and converges at 1 as the shutter speed SSDincreases.

In this regard, the motion-vector compensation section 115 may performmultiplication processing using fs (VD) having a variable, the motionvector VD, or using fs (SSD, VD) having two variables, the shutter speedSSD and the motion vector VD.

In step S34, jerkiness does not occur in the pixel block of theprocessing target, and thus the motion-vector compensation section 115performs mask processing, for example, by multiplying the motion vectorand 0 in order to invalidate the motion vector.

In this manner, the optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determinationsection 114 determines whether jerkiness occurs or not in considerationof the shutter speed SSD at the time of actually shooting the movingimage being the processing target. The motion-vector compensationsection 115 performs compensation processing for adding an adequatemotion blur to the motion vector of the pixel block determined to havejerkiness. Thus, the motion-blur addition processing performed by themotion-blur addition filter 112 contributes to the moving image becomingmore natural in the visual characteristic.

The filter-parameter calculation section 111 calculates the filterparameters as shown below for each pixel in order to add a motion blurto each pixel included in the processing target frame.

First, the filter-parameter calculation section 111 determines the pixelhaving valid motion vector information to be a pixel of interest, andidentifies the pixel (hereinafter, referred to as aparameter-calculation target pixel) located on the motion vector of eachpixel of interest. Next, the filter-parameter calculation section 111calculates the filter parameter in accordance with the relative positionof the parameter-calculation target pixel identified for the pixel ofinterest as shown below.

That is to say, as shown in FIG. 11, the filter-parameter calculationsection 111 identifies all the pixels located on the vector having theposition of the pixel of interest P0 at the middle point of a startpoint S and an end point E of the motion vector as theparameter-calculation target pixel. In this regard, as shown in FIG. 11,an absolute value v is the absolute value of the motion vector of thepixel of interest.

Next, the filter-parameter calculation section 111 calculates theintensity σ of the motion blur addition by the following Expression 6 inaccordance with the absolute value v of the motion vector and thedistance d between the position of the pixel of interest P0 and thepixel position of the parameter-calculation target pixel P1 identifiedby the above-described processing.

$\begin{matrix}{\sigma = {{{- 0.5} \times \left( {d - 0.5} \right)^{2}} + {0.5 \times \left( \frac{v}{2} \right)^{2}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 6} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Here, Expression 6 is set such that the value of the intensity σ, in theexpression, to the second power becomes the variance of the Gaussianfunction of the motion-blur addition filter 112 in the subsequent stage.

Also, the filter-parameter calculation section 111 calculates an angledirection θ for adding the motion blur by the following Expression 7 onthe assumption that the pixel of interest P0 is the origin, and acoordinate point of each parameter-calculation target pixel P1 on arectangular coordinate plane x-y is (x1, y1).

$\begin{matrix}{\theta = {\tan^{- 1}\left( \frac{y_{1}}{x_{1}} \right)}} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 7} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

In this manner, the filter-parameter calculation section 111 identifiesthe parameter-calculation target pixel from the motion vector of thepixel of interest, and sets the parameter information (σ, θ), andsupplies the parameter information to the motion-blur addition filter112 for each processing target frame.

In this regard, in the processing according to the filter-parametercalculation section 111, a parameter-calculation target pixel issometimes duplicately identified for a certain pixel. In this case, inorder to simplify the processing, for example, out of the duplicatelyidentified parameter information, information having σ of greater valueought to be the parameter information of the pixel. Also, thefilter-parameter calculation section 111 performs smoothing processing,such as the Gaussian filter processing, the median filter processing,etc., on the parameter information (σ, θ) of each parameter-calculationtarget pixel so that the image quality of the moving image output fromthe motion-blur addition filter 112 in the subsequent stage can beincreased.

The motion-blur addition filter 112 performs spatial filter processingin the processing target frame, as described below, on the pixel valueof each pixel of the processing target frame of the input moving imagedata ID in accordance with the parameter information supplied from thefilter-parameter calculation section 111.

In the present embodiment, the motion-blur addition filter 112 performseither one of or both of the first filter processing and the secondfilter processing, described below to output the image to which a motionblur has been added.

First, a description will be given of the first filter. In the firstfilter processing, the motion-blur addition filter 112 inputs the pixelvalue of the motion-vector addition target pixel before themotion-vector addition filter processing and the pixel value of thesurrounding pixel located in the surroundings of the pixel, as input I(x+1, y+1), into a Gaussian function as shown by the followingExpression 8, and outputs the pixel value J (x, y) of the pixel ofinterest after the filter processing.

$\begin{matrix}{{J\left( {x,y} \right)} = \left( \frac{\sum{{I\left( {{x + i},{y + j}} \right)}*{\mathbb{e}}^{- \frac{r^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}}}{\sum{\mathbb{e}}^{- \frac{r^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}}} \right)} & \left\lbrack {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 8} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

In this regard, the surrounding pixel to be the input I (x+1, y+1) isset in accordance with the angle direction at which the motion vector isadded. Also, r indicates the distance between the motion-vector additiontarget pixel and the surrounding pixel.

The motion-blur addition filter 112 performs the above-described filterprocessing on each pixel to which the parameter information (σ, θ) isset, out of the all the pixels included in the processing target frame,to update the pixel value. In this manner, the motion-blur additionfilter 112 can supply the moving image data BD with reduced jerkiness tothe coding processing section 2 in the subsequent stage.

In the surrounding pixels located in the surroundings of the pixel ofinterest include an area without motion originally, that is to say, abackground area. It is not necessary to consider the surrounding pixelslocated in such a background area originally in order to add a motionblur to the pixel of interest. A method of processing in considerationof these points is the second filter processing described below.

That is to say, in the second filter processing, when the value of themotion vector of the pixel of interest is 0 or invalid, the motion-bluraddition filter 112 inputs the pixel value I (x+i0, y+j0) of the pixelwhose motion vector value is 0 or invalid out of the surrounding pixelslocated in the surroundings of the pixel of interest in place of thepixel value I (x, y) of the pixel of interest into the above-describedExpression 8 to calculate the pixel value J (x, y) of the pixel ofinterest. In this manner, the motion-blur addition filter 112 outputsthe image in which jerkiness is more naturally reduced in the visualcharacteristic than that of the first filter processing.

The motion-blur addition processing section 11 can output the movingimage data BD having been subjected to the motion-blur additionprocessing as the example described above.

In particular, in the case of this example, the optimum-shutter-speedcalculation/determination section 114 compensates the motion vector inaccordance with the shutter speed information at the time of shooting amoving image so as to control the value of the motion-blur additionintensity σ calculated by the filter-parameter calculation section 111in the subsequent stage. Accordingly, it is possible to add adequatemotion blur in accordance with the shutter speed information at shootingtime by the motion-blur addition filter 112, and thus it is possible tooutput the moving image data BD with more naturally reduced jerkiness inthe human visual characteristic.

Next, a description will be given of an example of the configuration inFIG. 12 as an example of the configuration of the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11. As shown in FIG. 12, the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11 may include the filter-parameter calculationsection 111 and the motion-blur addition filter 112. That is to say, theconfiguration may be a configuration in which processing blocks relatedto motion vector compensation are removed from the configuration of FIG.7.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the moving image data IDis subjected to motion-blur addition processing in the preceding stageof the coding processing section 2. One of the purposes thereof is toimprove the coding efficiency.

And it is possible to optimize the degree of addition of the motion blurin accordance with the perception characteristic by having theconfiguration as that of the above-described FIG. 7. However, if agreater importance is given to the coding efficiency, it is notnecessary to have that configuration. In that case, the configuration inFIG. 12 may be used.

In the example of the configuration of FIG. 12, the motion vector VDsupplied from the motion-vector generation processing section 12 isdirectly input into the filter-parameter calculation section 111.

The filter-parameter calculation section 111 calculates the filterparameter by performing the same processing as described above using thenot-compensated motion vector VD. And the motion-blur addition filter112 performs the above-described motion-blur addition processing on thebasis of the filter parameter.

With this configuration, a motion blur is added faithfully to the sizeof the motion vector detected by the motion-vector generation processingsection 12.

Regarding the second image processing apparatus 4 (400) described later,it is possible to perform faithful motion-blur reduction processing moreeasily in this manner.

Descriptions have been given of the configurations and the operations ofthe motion-blur addition processing section 11 with reference to FIGS. 7and 12. However, various configurations and operations can be consideredin addition to these.

In place of the spatial filter processing for adding a motion blur toeach unit image using the motion vector, the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11 may add a motion blur to the image data using theother motion information.

For example, the addition of a motion blur to the moving image data IDmay be processed by performing the filter processing in time, that is tosay, a plurality of frames are overlapped for one frame so that a motionblur is added to the moving image data ID. In this case, the motion-bluraddition processing section 11 detects a moving body image area by thedifference between the frames as motion information instead of themotion vector. And the information indicating the detected moving bodyimage area is compensated on the basis of the shooting information, andthen is subjected to the filter processing in time using the motioninformation. Thereby, it is possible to add a motion blur adequately inaccordance with the shutter speed information, etc., at shooting time.

2. The Second Image Processing Apparatus

2.1 Example of the Configuration of the Image Processing Apparatus

Next, a description will be given of the second image processingapparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. The second imageprocessing apparatus is an image processing apparatus which performsdecoding and motion-blur reduction processing on the moving image datatransmitted from the first image processing apparatus described above,that is to say, the moving image data ED having been subjected to themotion-blur addition processing and the coding processing (hereinafterreferred to as “coded moving image data ED”).

A description will be given of an example of the configuration of thesecond image processing apparatus with reference to FIGS. 13, 14, and15.

In this regard, a processing block in each figure indicates a logicalconstituent element, and the individual processing blocks may becontained in a same casing, or may also be contained in differentcasings. In each figure, an image processing apparatus 4 surrounded by abroken line or an image processing apparatus 400 surrounded by a brokenline can be thought as the configuration of the second image processingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a configuration in which the image processingapparatus 4 includes a motion-blur reduction processing section 41.Alternatively, FIG. 13 illustrates a configuration in which the imageprocessing apparatus 400 includes the motion-blur reduction processingsection 41 and a decoding processing section 3.

The coded moving image data ED is input into the decoding processingsection 3. The decoding processing section 3 performs decodingprocessing on the coded moving image data ED to output the decodedmoving image data DD. For example, the decoding processing section 3performs decoding processing corresponding to the coding performed bythe coding processing section 2 in the above-described first imageprocessing apparatus 100.

Accordingly, the output moving image data DD is considered to be themoving image data to which a motion blur is added by the motion-bluraddition processing section 11 of the first image processing apparatus100.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 performs the motion-blurreduction processing on the moving image data DD decoded by the decodingprocessing section 3 in the preceding stage, and outputs the processedmoving image data OD.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 adaptively performs thefilter processing in accordance with the motion information MIcorresponding to each frame or each division area of the moving imagedata DD input in the same manner as each frame or each division area ofthe moving image data after the decoding so as to reduce the motionblur.

The moving image data OD having been subjected to the motion-blurreduction processing is output to a display unit not shown in thefigure, etc. In this regard, as shown in the figure, the moving imagedata DD decoded by the decoding processing section 3 may be output to adisplay unit, etc.

Here, the functions and the advantages of the second image processingapparatus 4 (400) according to the present embodiment are considered tobe the following three points: i, ii, and iii.

i. Improvement of the Image Quality by Reducing Blurs of the TransmittedMoving Image

The moving image data OD, which has been subjected to the motion-blurreduction processing by the motion-blur reduction processing section 41and is output to a display unit, etc., has less blurs, which impair thedetails of the image, and is displayed with higher image qualitycompared with the case of directly displaying the decoded moving imagedata DD on the display unit.

That is to say, the blurs are reduced by the motion-blur reductionprocessing on the assumption that the transmission source of the movingimage data is not particularly identified.

ii. Improvement of the Image Quality by Reducing Jerkiness and Blurs ofthe Moving Image Transmitted from the First Image Processing Apparatus100

In consideration that the coded moving image data ED from whichjerkiness is eliminated by the motion-blur addition processing section11 in the above-described first image processing apparatus 100 is inputinto the second image processing apparatus 400, the moving image data ODhaving been subjected to the motion-blur reduction processing becomesthe high-quality moving image data from which both jerkiness and blurshave been reduced.

That is to say, in this sense, the moving image data DD is the movingimage data from which jerkiness has been reduced, and the moving imagedata OD is the moving image data from which jerkiness and blurs havebeen reduced.

iii. Restoration to the Moving Image Data Before Processed by the FirstImage Processing Apparatus 100

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to make the movingimage data OD the same as the original moving image data ID input intothe first image processing apparatus 100. That is to say, themotion-blur reduction processing section 41 faithfully reduces themotion blurs added by the motion-blur addition processing section 11.This is suitable for the case where a motion blur is added in view ofimproving the coding efficiency of the coding processing section 2 inthe first image processing apparatus 100, and the original moving imagedata is restored by the second image processing apparatus 400 to be thetransmission destination.

For example, as described above, if it is assumed that the moving imagedata to which a motion blur is added using the motion-blur additionprocessing section 11 whose configuration is shown in FIG. 12 is codedand decoded as input moving image data, the motion blur is added to themoving image data DD faithfully to the size of the motion vector VDwithout compensation.

Thus, if the motion-blur reduction processing section 41 performsmotion-blur reduction processing using only the motion vector VD as aparameter, the same moving image data as that before a motion blur hasbeen added by the first image processing apparatus 1 (100) can beobtained in principle.

Next, FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration in which the image processingapparatus 4 includes a motion-blur reduction processing section 41 and amotion-vector generation section 42. Alternatively, FIG. 14 illustratesa configuration in which the image processing apparatus 400 includes adecoding processing section 3, the motion-blur reduction processingsection 41 and the motion-vector generation section 42.

FIG. 14 is an example of the configuration in which the motion vector VDis used as an example of the motion information MI in FIG. 13.

The motion-vector generation section 42 generates the motion vector VDof each area of each frame of the decoded moving image data DD (for eachpixel or for each pixel block including a plurality of pixels).

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 adaptively performs thefilter processing on (each frame of or each division area of) thedecoded moving image data DD using the motion vector VD so as to performthe motion blur reduction processing. The moving image data OD havingbeen subjected to the motion-blur reduction processing is output to adisplay unit, etc., not shown in the figure.

In this case, any one of the functions and the advantages of theabove-described in i, ii, and iii is assumed.

Next, FIG. 15 is an example of the configuration in which the motionvector used in the decoding processing section 3 is used for themotion-blur reduction processing.

Motion-blur estimation processing is performed in the prediction codingbased on the motion information of the image, such as MPEG in the codingprocessing thereof, and the motion blur estimation result is transmittedto the decoding processing section 3 together with the coding data.

The decoding processing section 3 performs the decoding processing usingthe above-described transmitted motion vector. In the configurationshown in FIG. 15, the motion-blur reduction processing is performedusing the motion vector.

In FIG. 15, a simple MPEG coding processing block is shown. The codedmoving image data ED is input into an entropy decoding section 301 inthe decoding processing section 3. The entropy decoding section 301performs decoding processing on the input coded moving image data ED,obtains quantization data, and extracts the motion vector VD. That is tosay, this is the motion vector VD, for example, having been generated bythe motion-vector generation processing section 210 in FIG. 4 andoverlaid on the coded moving image data by the coding of the entropycoding section 204.

The entropy decoding section 301 outputs the quantization data to theinverse quantization section 302, and also outputs the motion vector VDto the motion compensation section 306 and the motion-blur reductionprocessing section 41.

The inverse quantization section 302 inversely quantizes the inputquantization data to generate a DCT coefficient, and outputs the DCTcoefficient to the inverse DCT section 303.

The inverse DCT section 303 performs inverse DCT processing on the DCTcoefficient input from the inverse quantization section 302 to generatethe image data, and outputs the image data to an addition section 304.

The addition section 304 adds the image data that is motion-compensatedby a motion compensation section 306 and the image data input from theinverse DCT section 303, and outputs the image data as the decodedmoving image data DD, and also to a frame memory 305. The image datatemporarily stored in the frame memory 305 is output to the motioncompensation section 306.

The motion compensation section 306 performs motion compensationprocessing on the image data input from the addition section 304 throughthe frame memory 305 on the basis of the motion vector input from theentropy decoding section 301, and outputs the image data to the additionsection 304.

The moving image data DD decoded by the decoding section 3 is suppliedto the motion-blur reduction processing section 41. Also, the motionvector DD is supplied to the motion-blur reduction processing section41. The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 performs motion-blurreduction processing on the moving image data DD using the motion vectorVD. The moving image data OD having been subjected to the motion-blurreduction processing is output to a display unit not shown in thefigure.

Like this example, it is thought that the motion-blur reductionprocessing is performed using the motion vector extracted in the processof the MPEG decoding.

In this case, any one of the functions and the advantages of theabove-described in i, ii, and iii is assumed.

Also, in the image processing apparatus 4 (400) of each exampledescribed above, the motion information is referenced, and adaptivefiltering is carried out for each area. Thus, it is possible to reduce amotion blur for each area in accordance with the size of the motionincluding the adjustment of the amount of motion blur as the subsequentprocessing if necessary compared with the case of applying a spatiallyuniform low-pass filter at coding time (that is to say, a spatiallyuniform high-pass filter at decoding time). Accordingly, it is possibleto display a natural image quality for the viewer of the moving image.

Also, in the case where the parameters of the motion-blur additionprocessing in the pre-processing of the coding (or it is difficult to doso) are not transmitted, it is possible to perform the motion-blurreduction processing using only the motion information. That is to say,it is possible to perform the processing by the motion vectortransmitted for use in coding and decoding or only by the motioninformation obtained after decoding. This is an advantage over the caseof applying a spatially uniform low-pass filter at coding time (that isto say, a spatially uniform high-pass filter at decoding time), becauseit is necessary to transmit some kind of filter information at the timeof low-pass filtering in that case.

2.2 Motion-Blur Reduction Processing Section

A description will be given of the motion-blur reduction processingsection 41 in the examples of the configurations in the above-describedFIGS. 13, 14, and 15. Here, descriptions will be given of examples ofFIG. 16 and FIG. 18 individually as the configuration of the motion-blurreduction processing section 41.

First, a description will be given of an example of the configuration ofthe motion-blur reduction processing section 41 in FIG. 16.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 in FIG. 16 includes amoving-average-filter characteristic conversion section 411, amoving-average-filter section 412, a subtraction section 413, and anaddition section 414, and achieves the reduction of the amount of motionblur on the input moving image data DD.

In this regard, a moving average filter used as themoving-average-filter section 412 is a kind of easiest low-pass filters,and is a filter which calculates the average value of the processingtarget pixel and the surrounding pixel for each pixel move. For example,at a certain point in time, the average is calculated of n samples (fourin the figure) including the current sample value as shown in FIG. 17A.At the next point in time, the average is calculated of n samples (fourin the figure) including the current sample value as shown in FIG. 17B.The sample values mentioned here becomes the pixel values, and theaverage of the n samples of the surrounding pixels including the processtarget pixel is output for each one pixel move of the processing targetpixel.

The motion vector VD is input into the moving-average-filtercharacteristic conversion section 411. The moving-average-filtercharacteristic conversion section 411 extracts the motion vectorcorresponding to the position of the divided area in the moving imagedata DD as a filter parameter from the input motion vector VD, anddetermines the filter characteristic of the processing performed in themoving-average-filter section 412 on the basis of the motion vector. Forexample, one moving-average-filter ought to be individually provided fora plurality of motion vectors VD, and a filter to be used for a pixel ofinterest ought to be determined. Specifically, the determination is madeas follows.

It is assumed that the characteristic of the moving average filter istranslated into how may surrounding pixels of the pixel of interest isused for the average processing, and the motion vector VD is used as anexample of the filter parameter. At this time, a table for determining anumber of pixels to be used for the moving average filter for the motionvector VD is provided, and the number of pixels to be used for themoving average filter is output each time the motion vector VD of eacharea is input.

The determined number of pixels to be used for the moving average filteris output to the moving-average-filter section 412.

The moving-average-filter section 412 (low-pass filter) applies a movingaverage filter whose characteristic is determined by themoving-average-filter characteristic conversion section 411 on apredetermined block including the pixel of interest in the processingtarget frame so as to convert the pixel value of the pixel of interest.The pixel value of the pixel of interest converted by themoving-average-filter section 412 is output to the subtraction section413.

That is to say, the pixel value of the pixel of interest converted bythe moving-average-filter section 412 is inverted and input into thesubtraction section 413. Also, the pixel of interest is input into thesubtraction section 413 out of the processing target frames in the inputmotion vector DD.

The subtraction section 413 obtains the difference between the pixelvalue of the pixel in the moving image data DD and the pixel value ofthe pixel of interest converted by the moving-average-filter section412, and outputs the difference value to the addition section 414.

In this manner, the difference between before and after the movingaverage filter is input to the addition section 414. Also, the pixel ofinterest out of the processing target frame in the moving image data DDis input to the addition section 414. The addition section 414 adds thedifference value between before and after the moving average filter tothe pixel value of the pixel of interest before compensation, andoutputs the addition result as an output image (a part thereof).

The above is the processing contents of the motion-blur reductionprocessing section 41. In order to understand the meaning of thisprocessing, it is easy to consider in a frequency domain.

If the difference between before and after the moving average filter,which is the output signal of the subtraction section 413 is consideredin the frequency domain, in the frequency of interest, the differencebetween the input image signal gain and the image signal gain after theapplication of the moving average filter becomes the output signal gainof the subtraction section 413. Further, the gain of the output imagesignal of the addition section 414 becomes the sum of the gain of theinput image signal and the difference gain before and after the movingaverage filter. That is to say, at each frequency, the gain of theoutput image signal is raised by the difference gain before and afterthe moving average filter compared with the input image gain.

In consideration that the moving average filter is a low-pass filter, toput the above-described contents anther way, the motion-blur reductionprocessing section 41 whose configuration is shown in FIG. 16 basicallyperforms the equivalent processing as the processing of applying ahigh-pass filter.

Next, a description will be given of an example of the configuration ofFIG. 18 as the motion-blur reduction processing section 41.

The different point of the configuration in FIG. 18 from theabove-described configuration in FIG. 16 is that the components of themotion-vector compensation processing, which are necessary for adjustingthe amount of motion blur addition to the amount of motion blur havingthe greatest reduction of jerkiness, is added.

Specifically, an optimum-shutter-speed calculation/determination section415 and a motion-vector compensation section 416 are added. The scalingprocessing of the motion vector is performed in the same manner as theprocessing performed by the optimum-shutter-speedcalculation/determination section 114 and the motion-vector compensationsection 115 in the motion-blur addition processing section 11 shown inFIG. 7. The different point is that the shooting shutter speed SSD isnot input.

However, on the assumption that the moving image data having beensubjected to the motion-blur addition processing by the motion-bluraddition processing section 11 is input, in FIG. 12, described before,it ought to be thought that a motion blur is added without compensatingfaithfully to the size of the motion vector VD.

Then, the decoded moving image data DD may be regarded as a motion blursubstantially corresponding to an open shutter condition is uniformlyadded. For example, the processing ought to be performed on theassumption that the moving image data shot at the longest shutter speedis constantly input in FIG. 10.

Specifically, the motion-vector compensation section 416 ought tocompensate (contract) the input motion vector in accordance with, forexample, the optimum shutter speed curve SS0 in FIG. 10, and output themotion vector to the moving-average-filter characteristic conversionsection 411 in the subsequent stage. The processing of themoving-average-filter characteristic conversion section 411, themoving-average-filter section 412, the subtraction section 413, and theaddition section 414 are the same as described above.

It is possible to implement the motion-blur reduction processing usingthe configurations shown in FIGS. 16 and 18. The configuration and theoperation of the motion-blur reduction processing section 41 are notlimited to the above-described configurations and operations as a matterof course.

3. Information Transmission Between the First and the Second Apparatuses

Next, a description will be given of the sharing of the motion-bluraddition information between the first image processing apparatus 1 tobe the coding preprocessor and the second image processing apparatus 4to be the decoding postprocessor. In the above, a description has beengiven of the image processing apparatus 4 performing the post-processingof the decoding processing. Here, an illustration is given of theconfiguration in which the parameters, etc., used when the imageprocessing apparatus 1 added the motion blur are transmitted to thedecoding processing side, and the image processing apparatus 4determines whether to perform motion-blur reduction processing ordetermines the degree of the amount of motion blur reduction using thereceived motion-blur addition information as the post-processing of thedecoding.

FIG. 19 illustrates the image processing apparatus 1 (100) in FIG. 3 andthe image processing apparatus 4 (400) in FIG. 13.

In particular, the motion-blur addition processing section 11 transmitsthe motion-blur addition parameter PM used at the time of adding amotion blur to the coding processing section 2 in addition to theprocessed moving image data BD.

The coding processing section 2 adds the motion-blur addition parameterPM as the meta data of the coded moving image data ED, and transmits themeta data.

In the image processing apparatus 4 (400), the decoding processingsection 3 performs decoding processing, and outputs the moving imagedata DD to the motion-blur reduction processing section 41, extracts themotion-blur addition parameter PM from the meta data, and supplies themotion-blur addition parameter PM to the motion-blur reductionprocessing section 41.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 determines the contentsof the motion-blur reduction processing on the basis of the motion-bluraddition parameter PM.

In this regard, as a transmission method of the motion-blur additionparameter PM, the method of using the meta data of the coding signal isdescribed. However, the transmission method is not limited to this. Themotion-blur addition parameter PM can be transmitted as another stream.

In the above-described motion-blur reduction processing section 41 inFIG. 13, etc., if it is assumed that a signal to which a motion blur isadded faithfully to the motion vector (for example, without performingvector compensation processing as shown in FIG. 12) is input, it is notnecessary to use the motion-blur addition parameter PM, and motion-blurreduction processing is performed by the configuration in FIG. 16 orFIG. 18.

However, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case of the signal to which a motionblur is added by selecting only areas liable to have jerkiness, or thesignal to which the amount of motion blur is adjusted and added inconsideration of the human perception of jerkiness, etc., it iseffective to transmit the motion-blur addition parameter PM used at thetime of adding the motion blur to the subsequent stage.

As a specific example of the motion-blur addition parameter PM, first,the simplest example is considered to be a flag signal of “0” or “1”indicating whether a motion blur is added or not to the pixel (or thearea) in the image.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 refers to this flag todetermine whether to perform the motion-blur reduction processing ornot.

Also, as a specific example of the motion-blur addition parameter PM,the vector compensated by the configuration of FIG. 7 itself isconsidered to be transmitted. That is to say, the output of themotion-vector compensation section 115 in FIG. 7 is transmitted.

The motion-blur reduction processing section 41 performs the motion-blurreduction processing using the compensated vector.

Also, it is necessary to add a large amount of data for transmitting thevector itself, and thus it is thought that only the compensation valueapplied to the vector is transmitted as the motion-blur additionparameter PM, or only the vector conversion rule used at the time ofcompensation is transmitted, and the motion-blur reduction processingsection 41 performs inverse vector conversion.

For example, the vector compensation value used at the time of theabove-described motion-blur addition for each pixel or for each block isadded to each pixel or each block, respectively, and then transmissionis performed. In the simplest case, a real number α between 0 and 1 istransmitted, then the motion-blur reduction processing section 41contracts the vector V using an expression V′=α×V, and the motion-blurreduction processing is performed. If the motion blur is not added, “0”is transmitted.

In the case of a real number, the amount of data increases, and forexample, it is realistic to transmit the compensation value having beenquantized using a value between 0 to N.

Also, it is thought that as the motion-blur addition parameter PM, forexample, the motion-blur addition filter parameter, which is the outputof the filter-parameter calculation section 111 in FIG. 7, that is tosay, the values θ and σ given to each pixel are transmitted.

Further, the following advantages are considered by transmitting themotion-blur addition parameter PM.

Even if the motion-blur addition processing section 11 adds the motionblur excessively (to the extent that a blur occur if directly displayed)as the pre-processing of the coding, it is possible to reduce the blursby the motion-blur reduction processing section 41 reducing the motionblur.

That is to say, even if the image quality is deteriorated by adding theamount of motion blur effective for improving the compressionefficiency, it is possible to recover the image quality by performingthe motion-blur reduction processing in the subsequent stage using theparameter given at the time of adding the motion blur.

4. Program

The embodiments have been described on the image processing apparatuses1 (100) and 4 (400). However, the present invention can be applied tovarious apparatuses performing image processing. For example, it isassumed that the apparatuses include an image playback apparatus, animaging apparatus, a communication apparatus, an image recordingapparatus, a game machine, a video edit machine, etc. Further, it isnaturally assumed that the image processing apparatuses 1 (100) and 4(400) are implemented by the other information processing apparatus,such as a general purpose computer, etc.

For example, it is possible to achieve adequate image processing using apersonal computer, etc., by providing the program executing thecalculation processing of the operations of individual processing blocksof FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 13, 14, and 15 as image processing applicationsoftware.

That is to say, the program achieving the image processing of the imageprocessing apparatus 100 is a program for causing the informationprocessing apparatus to execute the motion-blur addition step performingthe motion-blur addition processing on the moving image data ID byapplying a filter processing in accordance with the motion informationMI (for example, the motion vector VD) indicating the motion of theimage between the unit images included in the moving image data ID, andthe coding step coding the moving image data BD having been subjected tothe motion-blur addition processing by the step of adding the motionblur and outputting the moving image data.

In this regard, if the program includes only the above-described step ofadding the motion blur, the program achieves the image processing of theimage processing apparatus 1.

Also, the program achieving the image processing of the image processingapparatus 400 is a program for causing the information processingapparatus to execute the decoding step decoding the coded moving imagedata ED having been subjected to the motion-blur addition processing,and the motion-blur reduction step performing the motion-blur reductionprocessing on the decoded moving image data DD obtained by the step ofdecoding by performing the filter processing in accordance with themotion information MI (for example, the motion vector VD) indicating themotion of the image between the unit images included in the moving imagedata.

In this regard, if the program includes only the above-described step ofreducing a motion blur, the program achieves the image processing of theimage processing apparatus 4.

By such a program, the present invention can be applied to a personalcomputer, a cellular phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and theother various kinds of information processing apparatuses using imagedata in order to execute the same image processing.

In this regard, such a program can be recorded, in advance, in an HDD asa recording medium built in an apparatus, such as a personal computer,etc., or in a ROM, a flash memory, etc., in a microcomputer having aCPU.

Alternatively, the program can be temporarily or permanently stored(recorded) in a removable recording medium, such as a flexible disk, aCD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto optical) disc, aDVD, a Blu-ray display, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, amemory card, etc. Such a removable recording medium can be provided asso-called packaged software.

Also, the program can be downloaded from a download site through anetwork, such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, etc., inaddition to the installation from a removable recording medium to apersonal computer, etc.

The present application contains subject matter related to thatdisclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2008-197947 filedin the Japan Patent Office on Jul. 31, 2008, the entire content of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing apparatus comprising amotion-blur adding section for performing filter processing on movingimage data to be subjected to coding processing as pre-processing of thecoding processing in accordance with motion information indicatingmotion of an image between unit images included in the moving image dataso that motion-blur addition processing is performed, wherein themotion-blur adding section obtains an optimum shutter speedcorresponding to the subject speed for each area in the image data byreferring to information relating a subject speed and a shooting shutterspeed to reduce deterioration of an output image, and adjusts an amountof the motion blur on the basis of a relationship between the shootingshutter speed and the optimum shutter speed; and a coding section forcoding the moving image data having been subjected to the motion-bluraddition processing by the motion-blur adding section, wherein amotion-blur addition parameter used at the time of the motion-bluradding section performing the motion-blur addition processing and themoving image data are externally output to a second image processingapparatus that decodes the moving image data and reduces the motion-blurfrom the decoded moving image data.
 2. The image processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a motion-vector generationsection for generating a motion vector as the motion information fromthe moving image data, wherein the motion-blur adding section performsthe filter processing on the moving image data using the motion vectorgenerated by the motion-vector generation section so that themotion-blur addition processing is performed.
 3. The image processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motion-blur adding sectionperforms the filter processing adding a motion blur to the moving imagedata using motion information to be used for coding the moving imagedata in coding processing in a subsequent stage.
 4. The image processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motion-blur additionparameter is any one of flag information indicating whether a motionblur is added or not for each area of each unit image of the movingimage data, the motion vector information used for the motion-bluraddition processing, and compensation information of the motion vector.5. A method of processing an image, comprising the steps of: performingfilter processing on moving image data to be subjected to codingprocessing in accordance with motion information indicating motion of animage between unit images included in the moving image data so thatmotion-blur addition processing is performed, wherein the motion-bluraddition processing comprises obtaining an optimum shutter speedcorresponding to the subject speed for each area in the image data byreferring to information relating a subject speed and a shooting shutterspeed to reduce deterioration of an output image, and adjusting anamount of the motion blur on the basis of a relationship between theshooting shutter speed and the optimum shutter speed; coding the movingimage data having been subjected to the motion-blur addition processing;and externally outputting a motion-blur addition parameter used at thetime motion-blur addition processing is performed and the moving imagedata to a separate image processing apparatus that decodes the movingimage data and reduces the motion-blur from the decoded moving imagedata.
 6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, perform a method of processing animage comprising: performing filter processing on moving image data tobe subjected to coding processing in accordance with motion informationindicating motion of an image between unit images included in the movingimage data so that motion-blur addition processing is performed, whereinthe motion-blur addition processing comprises obtaining an optimumshutter speed corresponding to the subject speed for each area in theimage data by referring to information relating a subject speed and ashooting shutter speed to reduce deterioration of an output image, andadjusting an amount of the motion blur on the basis of a relationshipbetween the shooting shutter speed and the optimum shutter speed; codingthe moving image data having been subjected to the motion-blur additionprocessing; and externally outputting a motion-blur addition parameterused at the time motion-blur addition processing is performed and themoving image data to a separate image processing apparatus that decodesthe moving image data and reduces the motion-blur from the decodedmoving image data.
 7. An image processing apparatus comprising amotion-blur adding mechanism performing filter processing on movingimage data to be subjected to coding processing in accordance withmotion information indicating motion of an image between unit imagesincluded in the moving image data as pre-processing of the codingprocessing so that motion-blur addition processing is performed, whereinthe motion-blur adding mechanism obtains an optimum shutter speedcorresponding to the subject speed for each area in the image data byreferring to information relating a subject speed and a shooting shutterspeed to reduce deterioration of an output image, and adjusts an amountof the motion blur on the basis of a relationship between the shootingshutter speed and the optimum shutter speed; and a coding mechanism forcoding the moving image data having been subjected to the motion-bluraddition processing by the motion-blur adding mechanism, wherein amotion-blur addition parameter used at the time of the motion-bluradding mechanism performing the motion-blur addition processing and themoving image data are externally output to a second image processingapparatus that decodes the moving image data and reduces the motion-blurfrom the decoded moving image data.